(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking area tracking apparatus and a method thereof, and more particularly, to a parking area tracking apparatus and a method capable of detecting and tracking a parking area around a vehicle to notify a driver thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, the view of a driver seated in a vehicle mainly looks forward. Therefore, the left-side and right-side views and the rear view of the driver are very limited because they are substantially blocked by the vehicle body itself. In order to overcome this problem, means of affording visibility include mirrors to supplement the limited view of a driver, such as external mirrors. Recently, camera means have been used to capture video images outside a vehicle to provide it to a driver.
For example, there is a system known as around view monitoring (AVM) that has a plurality of cameras installed around a vehicle so as to show 360 degree images. The AVM system synthesizes images around a vehicle captured by a plurality of cameras, which are capturing areas around the vehicle so as to provide a top view image in which a driver may observe the vehicle as if he looks down at the vehicle from an aerial view, thereby displaying obstacles and parking areas around the vehicle and eliminating blind spots.